IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES.....

Yesterday I was reminded of just how mortal we are. I attended a funeral service for a gentleman that I never got an opportunity to meet. However, it got me so emotional and I wept. I wept for a friend, who in her words, "feared never hearing the voice of her dad ever again". I wept for a wife who will never get the leadership of her husband after being together over 3 decades. I wept when I realized the deceased was only as young as my parents. My heart broke and my eyes became wet when one by one the family gave their tributes….. This man was obviously loved very much by his family and the void that he has left was evident. They said we sing the hymn ‘It is well’ as the family lay wreaths and I just couldn’t get myself to say those words. At that point in time, it was certainly NOT WELL with my soul.

One man stood to speak. He put things into perspective. He said that the only thing that we should worry about is our relationship with Christ in this land of the dying. Yes, we are in the land of the dying…. Those who die while in Christ are the ones in the land of the living, for they will never die! As for us who are still here, he ‘predicted’ that the probability of us dying in future is 100%. He made us consider what most of us would rather not when he said that who knows, probably he would not even make it home in the evening for he could even trip as he is leaving the pulpit and well…. pass on. It was a sobering reality for me. This reminded me of my most favorite bible verse: Psalm 90:12 – Teach us to number our days aright so that we may gain a heart of wisdom. A verse that daily reminds me what really matters in this life. Well, the man told us to be at peace, my friend’s dad was indeed in a better place, since he had a relationship with Christ. Then they said we sing ‘It is well’ again, and this time I managed to sing. My heart felt lighter. At this point, I even managed a private joke moment. You see, I caught myself applauding alongside everyone else when one Dr. Kizza Besigye was laying a wreath, and the thing is I do not think any of us could really explain why the applause…. maybe because he fights for ‘our’ rights? He also mourns his loved ones? First time to see him in person? I still do not know why I clapped all so enthusiastically. Perhaps it was because he represented the face of resilience and hopefulness. I suppose.

Anyway – moving along swiftly. In weddings, ’till death do us part’ is a vow we always think about when we are talking about remaining married for the long haul. However, the other meaning of this is that, there is a 100% chance that we will some day ‘fly away’….. the only twist is, you never know when.  This makes me think back to one of the best days of our marriage. Just two days ago, during our morning devotion, Hun re-dedicated his life to Christ. Oh what a joyous day it was, in our house and in Heaven... as the good book says. There is a certain peace that comes with knowing that the people you love will have a mansion next to yours in the pearly estate.

The other thing that we are totally grateful to God for is allowing our lives to be such that we are able to spend insane amount of time with each other. I have heard in other circles, it being called ‘suffocation’, yet for us we seem to enjoy every moment of it. Initially, Hun used to say it was because I was new in Uganda; didn’t know my way around and did not have friends…. I wonder what his ‘excuse’ is now that I can move about by myself and have made a ton of friends. Anyway the point is, when (not if) one day the vow - till death - becomes reality, our hearts will be comforted knowing we got to spend every possible moment with each other.

Life is just but a vapour….. make every moment count!